Govt inquiry into spy agency should include MBIE

Friday, March 16: Greenpeace has asked the
State Services Commission to expand its investigation into
the use of Thompson and Clark by a government agency to
include Ministry for Business, Innovation & Employment,
after OIA requests revealed the Ministry has also worked
with the controversial private investigations firm.

This
follows last week’s announcement by the State Services
Commission (SSC) that it will be launching an inquiry into
crown insurer, Southern Response, for using Thompson and
Clark (TCIL) to spy on Christchurch earthquake
complainants.

Greenpeace New Zealand’s executive
director, Russel Norman, says the investigations methods
used by TCIL are a "cancer to democracy".

"Thompson and
Clark are known for their Orwellian and oppressive spying on
the advocacy groups who are a fundamental part of civil
society. Previous governments have warned against using this
company for very good reason, and it’s completely
inappropriate for tax-payer funded agencies to still be
working with them," he says.

Multitudes of documents
received under the Official Information Act (OIA) reveal
that the Ministry for Business, Innovation & Employment
(MBIE) has had a close relationship with TCIL for more than
four years, and has worked with them to protect the oil
industry and counteract the advocacy work of environmental
groups like Greenpeace.

The documents and emails that have
been released are a fraction of the full picture - MBIE
declined a number of requests for certain correspondence
with TCIL on the grounds that over 2,000 documents
exist.

Norman says there is a clear trail of "teamwork"
between TCIL, MBIE, and oil and mining companies.

"The
documents we’ve seen show a highly collegial relationship
between MBIE and TCIL that includes references to their
drinking sessions and other social personal activities. At
times it’s difficult to tell where MBIE ends and TCIL
begins in these exchanges," he says.

"It is clear that
MBIE has also been assisting the spy agency to obtain
commercial contracts by passing on contact details for
mining companies that will be arriving in New Zealand in
order for TCIL to pitch their services to them.

"This is a
taxpayer funded Government regulator that we expect to do
its job professionally and impartially. Instead, what
we’ve seen feels like MBIE has been acting as little more
than an agent for oil companies and their
contractors."

Last August, a reverse sting operation by
Greenpeace revealed that TCIL had been spying on staff and
volunteers, at times on a daily basis, for years. Staff had
been watched, followed to their homes, photographed, and
monitored.

The environmental organisation sued TCIL for
invasion of privacy, and the case is ongoing.

Norman says
the release of these latest OIA documents show there are
even more layers to the story.

"We now know that TCIL has
been passing information about peaceful climate activists to
MBIE during this time. The exact detail is difficult to
ascertain from the heavily redacted OIAs, but it’s plainly
more than information obtained from public sources," he
says.

"The methods used by TCIL are a cancer to in our
democracy as they primarily target citizens that engage in
peaceful advocacy. The chilling effect of being under
constant and intrusive surveillance for simply campaigning
on important issues such as climate change, fundamentally
corrodes what it means to live in a free and democratic
society.

"We look forward to an SSC inquiry into just how
deeply this unacceptable behaviour seeps into our public
services sector, and we hope that the new Government will
act quickly to restore the public’s
trust."

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